Literacy Council of Seattle

Board of Director Profiles

	Jennifer Collins-Friedrichs, President Jennifer was recently named President of the Literacy Council, after having served the past three years as a volunteer and class instructor. A life-long educator, Jennifer has taught ESL and community college writing and literature classes in California and Seattle since 1991. In 2000, she received her PhD in Literature from Claremont Graduate University. Her focus at the Literacy Council has included assessing the effectiveness of programs and expanding outreach to where services are most needed in the community. Jennifer is passionate about empowering individuals through literacy and feels privileged to be part of the vital mission of the Literacy Council.
	Eric Dodsley, Vice President Eric has served on the LCS Board of Directors since 2007, and has been Vice President since 2008. He is involved in a number of LCS Board Committees and plays an active role in fund raising, policy development, and strategic planning, including participating in the recent long-range planning Task Force. He is a Contract Development Coordinator at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle and has experience in public policy and government relations. He is a graduate of the University of Washington and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Eric is passionate about education and literacy. As a board member, he hopes to build upon the success that LCS has achieved in helping people gain the skills they need to be successful in their jobs, families, and the community.
	Paula Jenson, Vice President of Operations and Volunteer Coordinator Paula is a seasoned Seattleite, although originally from Boston, who serves the LCS and its community every day in various ways. In addition to her vice president duties, she also manages our awesome volunteers by coordinating volunteer recruitment, assignments and successful partnerships for both student and tutor populations. Paula has a B.S. in Psychology from St. Lawrence University and, after receiving her SU certificate in teaching ESL in 2006, has taught at Highline CC, and served LCS clients by leading classes at the Covenant House, and the Central and Chinatown Libraries. In 2010 she was also a member of the LCS Task Force. In addition to professional experience in horticulture, retail, publishing, massage therapy, and art, she has a long history of volunteer work (PTA for both public and private schools; children's programs and art at University Unitarian Church; environmental work with Sustainable Ballard and Backyard Barter). Paula is passionate about gardening and has traveled extensively on six continents; including 4 recent international Habitat for Humanity builds.
	Terry Huang, Board Secretary and Technology Coordinator Terry currently serves as the Board Secretary along with overseeing technology-related operational responsibilities. He brings to the Board experience in many industries including manufacturing (General Electric), IT (University of Toronto), retail (Starbucks), and professional services (NBBJ). With English as his second language, Terry understands the importance of literacy in realizing a person's full potential in the community. He also personally benefited from being the recipient of customized, 1-on-1 tutoring similar to LCS' work with its students and credits much of his success to this. Terry has a combined degree in Engineering/MBA and is currently the Consulting Practice Lead at NBBJ, an international design firm based in Seattle. His focus is on realizing human potential through removing operational barriers.
	Valerie Margulis, Chair, Fundraising Committee Valerie leads the Fundraising Committee of the LCS and is a seasoned finance and operations professional with many years of management experience. She possesses a degree in French from the University of Washington, started her career in public accounting at Deloitte and is currently Executive Director of a downtown Seattle law firm. She has held financial management positions with several of Greater Seattle's prominent companies including Vulcan, where she was the Director of Real Estate Finance, and Wright Runstad, where she served as both Vice President of Finance and Administration and Board member. In 1992 she co-founded The Seneca Group, a firm which provides comprehensive real estate advisory, development and management services for public and private sector clients throughout the Northwest. As CFO for Stellar International, she helped establish real estate development businesses in Stockholm and Warsaw. In addition her firm, VLM Consulting, for many years provided financial management and analysis services to Seattle businesses with a focus on real estate companies.
	Sue Vadman, Board Member Sue has volunteered as a student tutor in LCS for 12 years. Other LCS activities have included being Treasurer from 2004 to June 2011. She continues to be a tutor and is currently on the Finance Committee. Having worked with more than 60 students with varying levels of English proficiency, she feels that she in turn has learned much from them. She also specializes in citizenship, idioms, and pronunciation, depending on a student's interests, needs, experience and level of proficiency. Sue obtained her Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Whitman College and worked for over 30 years at the University of Washington, up till retirement. She was featured once by its newspaper "The Daily" about her enthusiastic volunteering at Literacy Council. Trips to 15 countries have resulted in new forms of learning and continued interest for her and she sometimes pursues her old hobby of sewing.

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